Bill Tieleman is one of BC's best known communicators, political commentators and strategists.
Bill writes a politics column Tuesdays in 24 Hours newspaper and The Tyee online magazine.
Bill has been Communications Director in the B.C. Premier's Office and at the BC Federation of Labour.
Bill owns West Star Communications, a consulting firm providing strategy and communication services for labour, business, non-profits and government.

Monday, March 14, 2011

"I see dead cabinet people" - Christy Clark cabinet will leave some BC Liberal veterans in political coffin this afternoon

But the real question is whether the swearing-in show starting at 1 p.m. in Victoria is capped by fireworks in the evening, with big egos blowing up spectacularly as their cabinet flames go out.

UPDATE #1 - Moira Stilwell looking grave. Public Eye Online's Sean Holman reports that cabinet rigor mortis starting to set in for the former BC Liberal leadership candidate who dropped out to support George Abbott, not Christy. The Globe's Gary Mason saying same on Twitter - and now online at his paper, while the Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer on Twitter saying it's Clark's second major error - first being no inquiry into Basi-Virk $6 million defence payment.

UPDATE #2 - CABINET SWEARING IN - Hansen, Stilwell, Kevin Krueger, Murray Coell, Margaret MacDiarmid, John Yap, Randy Hawes all join the ranks of the BC Liberal backbench. Seriously - it is tough to be demoted, especially in public like this.

Well, we did say Christy is another Campbell, with a skirt. Anyone opposing Campbell lost their jobs. I can see Christy ridding herself, of anyone that opposed her as well. Hansen refused to give up his seat for Christy. I think Bill T, is dead on. Heads will roll.

I notice Coleman is still in cabinet, so I guess he knows just where the bodies are buried.Useless Murray has finally ended up where he should always have been, back row. Looks like any treaty work with this gang will be on the back burner. If the recall dumps the one from Comox "Perky Christy will be able to bring Bennett back into the front row. The hit man against the removal of the HST and Deputy Premier keeps him from running against Clark

The hit man against the removal of the HST and Deputy Premier keeps him from running against Clark

A little late for that one. The leadership is over. If you mean Falcon running for the Provincial Tories, forget it. They're nothing but a box of wing nuts being marketed by a tulip salesman and some zany character.

Well, she sure cleaned house alot. Hansen... toast. And alot of other dead weight (Iain Black, Randy Hawes) sent packing. There's nothing dainty about Christy when it comes to politics. She was the liberal pit bull in opposition and she showed her ruthlessness today with her cabinet appointments. Gotta question Cadieux as labour minister though. That's a screwball appointment but not surprising given the Fiberals lack of respect for the ministry.

"Nice words, Kam, but you have to also work the campaign too. Writing words to a blog isn't going to get anyone elected.Get out there if you care."

Interesting comments for sure. I have worked on the last 3 provincial elections, active in 2 federal elections, and have worked the phones for my chosen reps.My concern is for BC. To have this person, Cristy Clark walze in, unelected, with all her baggage (eg: BC Rail, her part in it) Oncebelonging to the most corrupt government to ever hold office. Yes anonymous, I am very active. May I say the same about you? I hope so.

The new guy running the Public Affairs Bureau is taking a leave of absence from his job at the Vancouver Island Health Authority, that according to a story in the Vancouver Sun. Sounds like the election is coming soon and Mr. Sweeney doesn't like the government's chances and he's looking for a soft landing. But the bigger question is why can senior officials in a publicly funded body take a leave to take on a senior political job with the government and then be guaranteed employment?

Where is the media and the NDP questioning the price of Martyn Brown's severance for 5 months work as a Deputy Minister? What about the highly touted Lesley du Toit experiment that ran afoul of Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond?

Where are the questions about the size of severance paid out to the political staff of Gordon Campbell and the Deputy Ministers from his reign?

The honeymoon for Clark will continue until the NDP start forcing some issues.

Can anyone explain why Doug Konkin - who was so unpopular in forests last time that forest companies went en masse to Campbell to complain - is back in forests? Particularly after his secret nest-feathering stunt of creating the now-dead ministry of Natural Resource operations? And with all the interest in Martyn Brown's severance, lets not forget Paul Taylor's. Severance costs are just the price of getting rid of some of this deadweight though. The Ministerial talent pool is atrocious and all the talent in the senior bureaucracy left years ago.

Great that Randy Hawes has been removed. The catastrophe of the Aggregate Pilot Project in the Fraser Valley needs to be stopped. There are too many gravel pits in the valley. He has listened to no-one but the aggregate industry. He was arrogant and condescending

Bill Tieleman and Senator Larry Campbell, former Vancouver mayor

Jim Sinclair, Cindy Oliver, Ken Georgetti and Bill Tieleman

Bill Tieleman's coverage of the Basi-Virk/BC Legislature Raid Case praised by other journalists:

"This outstanding piece of journalism, in The Tyee, is the work of a journalist who has been deeply involved with this issue from the start and this article should be passed on as far and wide as possible."

"Bill Tieleman from 24 hours . . . . If you want to know about this trial and about this case, you have to read his blog – I mean, that’s just all there is to it – it’s required reading if you want to understand the BC Legislature Raid situation."

- Mike Smyth, columnist, The Province

"The Basi-Virk case....you’ve probably sat through more of these hearings and gone through more of the files and written about it than any other journalist in the province."

- Bill Good, host, The Bill Good Show, CKNW/Corus Radio Network

"Tieleman ...has done a first-rate job covering the trial."

- Paul Willcocks, columnist, the Victoria Times-Colonist

"Tieleman, who marries a considerable journalistic talent with one of the smartest political minds in the province, has been writing more web-exclusive material. And his coverage of the Basi-Virk trial is a must-read -- whether you're an insider or an outsider."

"24 Hours, the Vancouver paper that has been leading the coverage, as well as the hints of conspiracy in B.C."

- Norman Spector, columnist, Globe and Mail

"Although the major media in this circumstance has been giving the case significant coverage, Tieleman's reports on his blog have been outstanding.

The entire cut and thrust of legal wrangling and arguments has been covered and is accompanied by considered analysis.....His blog site coverage of the Basi-Virk trial is the most in depth treatment of one of British Columbia's biggest political scandals."

- Bill Bell, columnist, The North Shore News

"Mr. Tieleman has published online dispatches which, freed from the limitations of newsprint space or broadcast time, can run at length. They also remain available for those select readers who become obsessed with a case also known as Railgate.....

In another bizarre twist to a story with no shortage of them, Mr. Tieleman went to work one day in December only to discover his office had been ransacked. Bookcases had been tipped over and papers strewn, but nothing was missing.

To top it off, a press kit for the self-published novel The Raid, written by a retired military officer in Metchosin and featuring on its cover a photograph from the 2003 police raid, had been left in a conspicuous place."

- Tom Hawthorn, columnist, The Globe and Mail

Nobody has followed the Basi-Virk affair over its past five years with greater diligence than local journalist, Bill Tieleman....Tieleman deserves our thanks, a fistful of journalism awards and some merit citation for citizenship.